This week’s Rose cafe was focused on housing conditions and availability in Ithaca. I knew, of course, that housing prices in Ithaca are unusually high, but I always just assumed it was due to excessive student demand, not a fundamental lack of housing in Ithaca. One interesting statistic that was mentioned is that the housing vacancy rate in Ithaca is less than 0.5 percent, while 5 percent is considered a healthy level. Ithaca also has 13,000 commuters daily. I never realized just how extreme the housing rate in Ithaca is. The obvious response to this is to simply build more housing complexes, but Lisa Nicholas explained that it’s a little more complicated than that.

Ithaca is trying to strike a delicate balance between historical architecture and new growth. Projects like the Commons had to incorporate old, aesthetically pleasing buildings. There is a very complicated process for proposing a new building, and a committee carefully weighs whether it will fit in with the existing neighborhood and what it will add to the area. I really liked learning that, because I think it’s great that Ithaca isn’t just opting for maximum profit and efficiency and is instead looking to cultivate culture and history. I’m glad to hear that the town is striving to maintain its roots while moving towards the future.